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“Service to humanity is a distinctive
attri-bute of Willamette’s essential historic char-acter and
is displayed in the activities of our students, faculty, alumni
and staff.”
– M. Lee Pelton
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At Willamette, we value a community where out-of-classroom experiences
and classroom instruction are closely connected. This edition of
The Scene focuses on the important connection between service
and learning. We strive to foster a community of learning where
moral growth and ethical development are encouraged within a diverse
and vibrant campus population. Willamette’s small classroom
settings reinforce active learning and strong student and faculty
relationships. We believe in the essential and defining role that
faculty play in shaping the community.
We also value an active social community that supports life-long
associations and friendships, purposeful co-curricular activities
and a sense of place developed through meaningful traditions. And
we value ser-vice and citizenship and take seriously our motto “Non
nobis solum nati sumus,” or “Not unto ourselves alone
are we born.”
It is estimated that Willamette students provide approximately
15,000 hours of volunteerism to the Salem community each year, through
direct services to individuals and organizations as well as fundrais-ing
for organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club of Salem, the
Salem Senior Center and Marion County Food Share. Kids and seniors
are the populations Willamette students most often choose to work
with. In fact, our students spend so much time tutoring and mentoring
at neighboring Bush and Richmond elementary schools, Parrish Middle
School and North Salem High School that the schools have been jokingly
referred to as “Willamette’s satellite campuses.”
Willamette has also built strong partnerships with the United
Methodist Retirement Center, developing a new program called Students
and Elders Connecting. This past spring, 35 students committed to
meet-ing weekly with residents of the Center.
Student-organized and student-run service clubs like Outdoor Pursuits
focus on a particular subject, interest or issue. Outdoor Pursuits
is a club comprised of Willamette students interested in science.
Its members partner with local middle school students to engage
them in after-school science projects and activities. Another service
club called Best Buddies brings 40 students together with developmentally
dis-abled adults to provide weekly events and activities for them.
For the second consecutive year, individual living communities
such as a Greek house or residence hall were able to access Lilly
Outreach Grants. These grants provide up to $500 to support group
activities that build a sense of community through service. One
residence hall group spent the day on a park res-toration project
and another participated in a state-wide beach clean-up day.
Students also demonstrate their interest in and concern for social
justice through awareness events designed to educate their fellow
students and the general community. The students organize the events
and choose the topics, like public education, farm worker rights,
racism, body image, gender issues and hate crimes. This year, students
were particularly interested in issues related to poverty, including
low-income housing and homelessness, hunger, the urban/rural divide
and domestic violence.
Our spirit of community involvement continues to be a very strong
and visible part of the Willamette culture, providing beneficial
services to the people of the Salem area and opportunities for learning
and personal growth for Willamette students.
Warm regards,
M. Lee Pelton
President
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